Short story retelling of a Greek myth
I am still so behind in my reviews, but this was the last book in my 2022 Short Stack Reading Challenge. I picked it up because I had read a book by this author before, and because it is enchantingly small with eye-catching gold foil.
“Galatea” by Madeline Miller is a short story retelling of the story of Pygmalion. The story is told from the perspective of a woman who is being kept in a hospital bed and made to stay quiet and still. She tells them that she was once made of stone, but they don’t believe her. She is visited by her husband and when she is expected to recreate a sexualised re-enactment of their first meeting. However, although it becomes clear that she is trapped it is also clear that her spirit has not been crushed.
This is a very swift, satisfying read that strikes a beautiful ambiguity between real life and something more fantastical that I always strive for in my own writing. The narrator could very well be an ordinary woman with some strange beliefs, or she could very well be a statute brought to life, and Miller leaves it to the reader to decide for themselves which interpretation they prefer. However, the truths of her treatment by her husband and those caring for her are irrefutable and she becomes a character who is very easy to sympathise with.
A beautiful little book inside and out.
Tinted Edges 